Brazil: Trump’s ‘friend’ ex-President Bolsonaro gets 27-year jail for coup attempt
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Recently, US President Donald Trump clashed with his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, arm-twisted BRICS, accused it of alleged de-dollarization moves, and did whatever he could to protect his ‘friend’ former President Jair Messias Bolsonaro from being convicted of a coup attempt.
It makes Bolsonaro, infamous as “Brazil’s Trump,” the first former Brazilian president to be convicted of attempting a coup.
On Thursday, a panel of Brazilian Supreme Court judges sentenced Bolsonaro to 27 years and three months in prison after convicting him of attempting a coup to remain in office despite his 2022 electoral defeat—a year after Trump rejected his own defeat and his supporters stormed the US Capitol in January 2021.
Bolsonaro, who denied any wrongdoing, is currently under house arrest in Brasilia. He can appeal the ruling, the media reported on Friday.
Four of the five judges reviewing the case found the far-right politician guilty on five counts, in a ruling that will deepen political divisions and likely prompt a backlash from the Trump administration.
Predictably, Trump said that he was very unhappy with the conviction. Speaking to reporters as he departed the White House, he said he always found Bolsonaro to be outstanding. The conviction, he added, is very bad for Brazil.
The court panel has now up to 60 days to publish the ruling. Once it does, Bolsonaro’s lawyers will have five days to file motions for clarification.
One of the justices, Crmen Lcia, said she was convinced by the evidence the Attorney General’s Office presented against the former president. He is the instigator, the leader of an organisation that orchestrated every possible move to maintain or seize power, she said.
Senator Flvio Bolsonaro, the former president’s eldest son, said on X the conviction was a supreme persecution and that history would show they were on the right side.
The trial has been followed by a divided society, with people backing the process against the former president, while others still support him. Some took to the streets to back the disgraced leader claiming he was being politically persecuted.
Bolsonaro’s trial got renewed attention after Trump linked a 50 percent tariff on imported Brazilian goods to his ally’s legal situation, calling it a witch hunt. Now, the US might announce new sanctions against Brazil after the trial, further straining their fragile diplomatic relations.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is overseeing the case, said on Tuesday that Bolsonaro was the leader of a coup plot and of a criminal organisation, and voted in favour of convicting him.
Lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro, one of the former president’s sons, on Thursday, instead of mentioning his father’s conviction, pushed for his amnesty, which he is seeking through Congress.
Earlier Thursday, Lcia also voted to convict Bolsonaro of organised crime in connection with the alleged coup attempt. She allowed de Moraes to interrupt her vote and play several videos that showed Bolsonaro in front of thousands of supporters between 2021 and 2023 urging him to leave the Supreme Court. De Moraes also showed footage of some destruction inside the court’s headquarters after the riots on January 8, 2023.
Bolsonaro faced accusations he attempted to illegally hang onto power after his 2022 electoral defeat to current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Prosecutors charged Bolsonaro with counts including attempting to stage a coup, being part of an armed criminal organisation, attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, as well as being implicated in violence and posing a serious threat to the state’s assets and listed heritage.
The far-right politician had been previously banned from running for office until 2030 in a separate case. He is expected to choose an heir who is likely to challenge the current President Lula next year.
The ruling may push Bolsonaro’s allied lawmakers to seek some amnesty for him through Congress.
After the court panel debates on Bolsonaro’s sentence, the embattled former leader could face increased pressure to pick a political heir to likely challenge Lula in the general elections next year.
